The invention will be described hereinbelow as utilized in a crowd control context, but it will be understood that it can be used in other applications where ease of installation, speed of imparting information to the bracelet, and elimination of existing waste disposal problems incident to the utilization of available bracelets are desirable.
Prior art bracelets are utilized in crowd control contexts such as amusement parks, ski lifts, and rock concerts. They are applied to the wrists of the persons visiting the amusement park, utilizing the ski lift, or attending the concert in order to identify the customer and prevent various abuses which arise where large numbers of individuals congregate.
Various types of prior art bracelets have been utilized in the above-mentioned situations, including bracelets fabricated from plastic sheet materials such as vinyl and various forms of plastic reinforced papers wherein the cellulosic content of the papers is bonded and strengthened by the plastic binder. Fasteners for these bracelets include plastic snap type fasteners, metallic rivet type fasteners, and adhesive fasteners.
All of the prior art bracelets are supplied in cartons and the adhesive bracelets incorporate adhesive isolation means which must be discarded at the point of application of the bracelet to an individual.
Moreover, where thousands of visitors are accommodated every day at amusement parks or ski lifts, correspondingly large inventories of the identification bracelets must be maintained and large quantities of cartons of such bracelets must be provided at the ticket booth.
In some applications, prior art bracelets are provided with information receiving surfaces and the cashier must, where the information is visually cognizable, type the requisite information on the receiving surface. This entails the removal of the bracelet from its carton, the insertion of the bracelet in the information printer and the subsequent imparting of the information to the surface. After the information imparting step is completed, the bracelet is removed from the printer and installed upon the wrist of the wearer.
Some prior art bracelets include electronic information receptor means such as magnetic strips or the like and the information is imparted to the magnetic strip by corresponding electronic information conveyors. However, the same basic sequence of time consuming steps must be followed as in the case of the visually cognizable information.
Bar coding of bracelets is another method of conveying information regarding the individual and the extent of his purchases. For instance, the bracelet for a concert can incorporate visually perceptible information regarding seat assignments; for amusement parks, the number of rides to which the individual is entitled; and, for ski lifts, the numbers of lifts and the numbers of rides to which the individual is entitled. Additional or alternative information regarding the extension of credit or spending limit available to an individual may be incorporated in the information imparted to the bracelet.
Where thousands of people are entering a facility, it is obvious that the inventory, storage, and bracelet preparation and installation upon a wearer are expensive and time consuming aspects of present bracelet usage. Because of the packaging and discarded components of conventional bracelets, there is a significant accumulation of scrap and waste materials at the point of application of such bracelets.